Rumor Killers: August 5th, 2008

By TGRStaff, on August 5th, 2008

Left 4 Dead PS3?

Left 4 Dead is the new squad-based zombie shooter coming from the guys at Turtle Rock Studios, the same studio that ported the original Counter Strike to the Xbox along with multiple map packs for the PC version, now under the wings of Valve after being acquired. The game is indeed looking very promising with previews stating this could well be the next big thing, taking AI and co-op to a whole new level. With every game that is exclusive to a console, unless made by a first-party studio, comes rumors of another platform version, and here is no different.

Left 4 Dead is currently scheduled for PC and Xbox 360, a Microsoft platform exclusive if you will, but recent mumblings in the industry suggest that Left 4 Dead could well be making its way to Sony’s Playstation 3. This latest rumor came from the Official Playstation Magazine, with them clearly stating “Valve’s survival horror game Left 4 Dead is coming to PS3, but EA will be taking on development duties in-house.”

When this hit the internet, PS3 owners leaped for joy then cried in anger all in a matter of a second. The reason? Orange Box PS3. EA took care of porting the Orange Box to the PS3 while Valve did the Xbox 360 version; now after release, PS3 Orange Box is still plagued with problems. What doesn’t help is Valve’s stance on the Playstation 3 as a whole, saying it’s a nightmare to develop for and publicly stating they wont develop for it.

But again, all this is irrelevant as Valve once again denied the existence of a PS3 version of the game. IGN thought it would be good to contact Doug Lombardi of Valve to ask on the state of this rumor to which his reply was: “there is no PS3 version of Left 4 Dead currently in production.”

Could there be a PS3 version in the future? Maybe depending on 360 and PC sales.

TGR Verdict: Rumor Killed

Xbox 360 Price Cut in September?

This is a given, isn’t it? The Xbox 360 will surely get a price drop before the holidays in order to boost sales in the Holiday season. What no one knows is when it will happen and how much of a price cut it will be. We might have a good idea now, thanks to the ever-secret preserving ways of the internet.

According to a news story over at arstechnica.com, an insider told them that a hefty 360 price drop is coming and even gave them figures. The Arcade machine will go down to $199, the newly announced 60GB model that is replacing the 20GB model will be $299 and the Elite model will cost $399. There is always a cloud of uncertainty when an “insider source” crops up, but Kotaku posted a screenshot of a SKU Inquiry that clearly shows the $199 price tag, and actually gave it a date of September 7th.

All this evidence is pointing towards this rumor being true, so if the rumor is true, what does this mean to Microsoft and its competitors? For starters, with the Arcade now being at $199, it’s clearly the cheapest console. It doesn’t come with a hard drive, but when you compare software and the ability to push amazing graphics, it really out does the Nintendo Wii as an overall package. With the 60GB model now being at $299, that’s a $100 less than the Playstation 3; that’s one hell of difference when parents look at what to buy there children in the shops.

Could this price drop force Sony to reduce the Playstation 3? It might, but we don’t know how much of a drop Sony can afford. This holiday season should be pretty interesting.

TGR Verdict: Very Likely

Max Payne 3?

After churning out the great Grand Theft Auto 4 on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and with Midnight Club LA coming very soon, what else has infamous developer Rockstar got in store for everyone? According to the Official Playstation Magazine, Rockstar is hard at work on a “new” IP based on a “cool license.”

Taking from the “cool license,” we can only assume that it’s an already-developed series that has since gone dormant or a movie license to which develop a game based around a movie.

One such game pops up to mind and it seems we are not the only ones to think its name: Max Payne 3. The successful franchise has sold over 7 million copies to date, impressive for only two games, and indeed, the series has been dormant for some time now. With the impending release of the Max Payne movie, developing and releasing a new Max Payne game could well see financial benefits to the struggling publisher Take-Two; what better time to do so than now?

Of course, this is still only speculation and is no assurance that a Max Payne 3 is in development, but keep those fingers crossed: a formal announcement may come sooner than you think.